Carol's Op-Ed article on weapons testing in the Wenatchee Daily World -- NOW Grief work and OS

Peggy Holman peggy at opencirclecompany.com
Sun Apr 12 22:55:06 PDT 2009


Michael,

A bit late, but thought I'd mention a few thoughts on grief and Open  
Space.  I think much of the grief that shows up is because something  
to which we are attached is changing or dying.  I'm doing a lot of  
work with journalists - an industry in which a lot that was held dear  
is dying.  I think there are several aspects of how we prepare for  
opening the space that allow both grief (not to mention fear) and  
excitement to be faced.

The first is to reach out to the diversity of the system.  For our  
Journalism that Matters gatherings, we don't just have mainstream  
journalists present.  If they just talk to each other, they tend to  
drag each other down.  Instead, we do a lot of work to bring together  
legacy and new media people, not to mention citizens and citizen  
journalists, media educators, and others who care about the role of  
journalism in a democracy.  And then we ask a possibility oriented  
question.  In our latest gathering, it was

What is our work in the new news ecology?

And we make sure that not only is everyone welcome, but all aspects of  
everyone is welcome - the grief, fear, anger, frustration, excitement,  
etc.  During our opening evening, we asked people to reflect on what  
they wished to converse, what they wished to embrace from what is  
emerging?  It made for great conversation and made it clear that there  
is a place to consider what is worthwhile to bring forward without  
having to have a death grip on keeping everything as it is.

There were many in mourning.  And they had space for this.  We  
actually talked about having a wake, but it never quite took on that  
form.

On the second morning, a journalist from Santo Domingo stood up during  
the morning circle and said something like "I can can't believe how  
scared so many of you are.  And that scares me."  Some spoke of their  
fear - for their relevance, for the future of democracy as newspapers  
fail.  And the new media people spoke of their excitement at the  
opportunities all around.  By the end of the day, the mood was  
completely different.  Legacy journalists had caught the scent of  
possibility.  By the end of the gathering, there was a sense of hope  
and optimism.  And everyone was leaving with lots of ideas, some with  
unlikely partners.  For session notes and post-conference information,  
see http://journalismthatmatters.com/content/journalism-new-news- 
ecology.

I guess the upshot is that if you create a welcoming space, invite the  
diversity of the system, and ask a possibility-oriented question,  
people find their way through.

Peggy




______________________________
Peggy Holman
The Open Circle Company
15347 SE 49th Place
Bellevue, WA  98006
425-746-6274
www.opencirclecompany.com

For the new edition of The Change Handbook, go to:
www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook

"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get  
burnt, is to become
the fire".
   -- Drew Dellinger





On Mar 10, 2009, at 6:47 AM, Harrison Owen wrote:

> Michael --
>
> Almost 30 years ago it occurred to me that the Griefwork Cycle  
> applies to institutions/organizations just as it does to individuals  
> – which is where it was originally discovered and described. I guess  
> that shouldn’t be surprising, for after all -- it is all people.  
> Anyhow, based on that understanding I began to hold Wakes for  
> corporations and other organizations that were passing from the  
> scene. If you are interested you will find a lot of this described  
> in several of my books.
>
> Later I learned that this was one more thing not to do. All you had  
> to do was open space and the Griefwork cycle just naturally ran if  
> there was a need. Specifically – if you have an organization in  
> major trauma either because it is going out of business or thinks it  
> might invite everybody to sit in a circle. No need to do anything  
> special (as in presenting or facilitating the process). It occurs  
> quite naturally all by itself. The theme will vary with the  
> situation but usually I do something like “What are we going to do  
> with the rest of our lives: Issues and Opportunities?” In short  
> order the people effectively become grief counselors to each other  
> -- and more often than not get well beyond that and start dealing  
> with creating new futures, like business plans, etc.
>
> For a long time I was both amazed and mystified by the depths  
> reached by those grieving people in open space. Particularly since  
> they did it all by themselves and helped each other. I think I now  
> understand what is going on. Open Space is a child of self  
> organization – the natural, ongoing process of the cosmos itself for  
> the last 13.7 billion years. The good news is that life has evolved,  
> but at a cost. It turns out that as self organization happens there  
> are a series of natural concomitants – chaos, conflict, and  
> confusion all of which usually end up with ending or death.  
> Doubtless we might prefer something different – but there it is.  
> Anyhow, I understand Griefwork to be the naturally evolved human  
> response to the process of self-organization. An interesting  
> question is how this process is coded into our collective lives ??  
> Since it operates everywhere and in a similar fashion it would  
> almost seem to be part of our genetic system.   But that is a puzzle  
> for somebody else. What I do know is that everytime space is opened,  
> self-organization is energized – and the Griefwork process does its  
> job. No help needed.
>
> That is sort of a short tour – and if you want a more extended  
> treatment check out my last book “Wave Rider: Leadership for High  
> Performance in a Self Organizing world.”
>
> Harrison
>
>
>
> Harrison Owen
>
> 7808 River Falls Drive
>
> Potomac, Maryland   20854
>
> Phone 301-365-2093
>
> Skype hhowen
>
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
>
> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
>
> Personal website www.ho-image.com
>
> OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the  
> archives Visit:www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of  
> Michael Wood
> Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 9:58 PM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Carol's Op-Ed article on weapons testing in  
> the Wenatchee Daily World
>
> Does anyone have any thoughts about when it is appropriate to run  
> something specific around "grief" before opening a space (compared  
> with just allowing the grief to emerge naturally as part of the Open  
> Space)?
>
> We have a few situations with large lay-offs of workers in mines and  
> factories, some affecting the entire fabric of small rural  
> communities. I was mulling this over with my friend Brendan  
> McKeaguea and we were thinking about what kinds of spaces might be  
> needed in such situations when, in the first few weeks, the rage is  
> so pronounced and people are simply not yet ready to move forward?
>
> How might "grief work" be best facilitated in such situations? Has  
> anyone used any particular process for collective grief work AND/OR  
> used Open Space to help process this kind of grief?
>
> Michael Wood
> Western Australia
>
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of  
> Harrison Owen
> Sent: Friday, 6 March 2009 11:44 PM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Re: Carol's Op-Ed article on weapons testing in the  
> Wenatchee Daily World
> Opening space for the news to break out is a marvelous idea, and  
> definitely could put community news media in a new mode of being. In  
> the northeast of the USA we have a great enterprise called  
> Villagesoup. It started as a (www.villagesoup.com) online news  
> outlet and with most of the content generated from the community. I  
> am not sure how they finance it, but it has a great deal of support  
> and the idea is definitely spreading. But I have always thought that  
> they could really get double bang for their buck if they were to  
> host what I might call Community Editorial Meetings. That would just  
> be a fancy name for an Open Space for anybody who cared about issues  
> in that community. Standard drill with proceedings – which could  
> then become new content. To be sure you can do all of this online,  
> but as we all know online, good as it is, never quite lives up to f- 
> t-f. It is nice to press the flesh, and great things happen with a  
> hug, etc.
>
> And in this present moment – otherwise known as financial chaos – it  
> is safe to say that folks are a little bit nervous, one might say  
> fearful. And fear does terrible things to viable community. Folks  
> stay inside, hunker down, stick their thumbs in their mouths, and  
> assume the fetal position and more.  That is what happens when folks  
> experience shock -- the front end of Griefwork. However, as we work  
> our grief, fear can dissipate and new futures manifest. And boy do  
> we need it! And every Open Space provides the opportunity for this  
> essential function (Griefwork) to do its work. And not incidentally,  
> it is one hell of a story. All of a sudden we can see that the media  
> is the message and the message is the media. Not too bad for a day’s  
> work. Go for it!
>
> Harrison
>
> Harrison Owen
>
> 7808 River Falls Drive
>
> Potomac, Maryland   20854
>
> Phone 301-365-2093
>
> Skype hhowen
>
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
>
> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
>
> Personal website www.ho-image.com
>
> OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the  
> archives Visit:www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of  
> Carol Hiltner
> Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 10:46 AM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Carol's Op-Ed article on weapons testing in  
> the Wenatchee Daily World
>
> Dear Michael!
> That may well happen here -- immediately, in fact. In the course of  
> our conversation about the news business, I invited Rufus to attend  
> the "Leadership in a Self-Organizing World" event that will be in  
> his distribution area in Leavenworth, Washington in May. He was  
> already planning to attend. So, those of you planning to attend  
> might put on your thinking caps now about what "journalism that  
> serves the community" looks like to you; how you would leverage it  
> for the "greater good"; and how it can flourish in the new society  
> we are "self-organizing."
> Carol
> On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 4:17 AM, Michael M Pannwitz  
> <mmpanne at boscop.org> wrote:
> Dear Carol,
> reading your note about the "World" and "journalism actually serves  
> the community" reminded me of the work our colleague Ingrid Olausson  
> did in Sweden years ago. She was engaged by regional editions of a  
> large Swedish daily to facilitate open space events (with hundreds  
> of participants)on local issues with proceedings posted in the  
> newspaper and followed up by readers writing in.
> Greetings from Berlin
> mmp
>
> Carol Hiltner wrote:
> Hi all!
> Major victory! *The Wenatchee World *will publish my Op Ed article  
> about
> weapons testing, attached and below.
>
> The *World *was started by my grandfather Rufus Woods back in early  
> 1900s to
> provide local and national news to North Central Washington, and is  
> now
> published by his namesake, who is my cousin. It is now one of the last
> family-owned daily newspapers in America -- one of the last places  
> where
> journalism actually serves the community.
>
> In response to my submission and letter, he wrote, "These are indeed
> fascinating times - lots of challenges yet amazing opportunities  
> here at the
> newspaper. We're in total reinvention mode, getting back to the basics
> of *serving
> community* and in particularly more completely embracing the notion of
> *celebrating
> community successes* as a way to lift the conversation out of the  
> morass of
> reactivity that is all too often the baseline of discourse."
>
> If you'd like a whiff of nostalgia while supporting a rare and  
> valuable
> American treasure, bookmark the link http://wenatcheeworld.com/  I'd  
> like to
> see them with a national following.
> Best!
> Carol
>
> Navy weapons and weather control testing in Washington State
>
> by Carol Hiltner
>
>
>
> I received an e-mail last week that caught my attention. It  
> proclaimed that
> the U.S. Navy was planning to use the whole northwestern U.S. for  
> military
> target practice. *Wait a second,* I thought. *Could this be true?  
> Isn’t the
> Navy supposed to be defending us? *
>
> Apparently the Navy has prepared the required environmental impact  
> statement
> (EIS) that is subject to public comment until March 11th, and this e- 
> mail
> outlined the author’s questions and concerns.
>
> So I read the e-mail. It was long, and contained a lot of technical
> information that I couldn’t assess. The author wasn’t so concerned  
> that we
> would shot at, as she was about the airborne residues of chemicals  
> the Navy
> admits are toxic, such as depleted uranium and white phosphorus, that
> American citizens would be breathing, eating, and drinking in  
> perpetuity.
>
> Most of the requested target practice area is just off the  
> Washington coast,
> from which prevailing winds would carry persistent toxins  
> progressively
> further inland. I wondered about the pollution of the orchards and  
> wheat
> fields of eastern Washington, the forests and cities of western  
> Washington,
> and the immediate impact on our beleaguered fisheries. Could we  
> indeed be
> victims of our own defense efforts?
>
> *Democracy in action,* I thought. I have watched the surge of citizen
> activism spawned by our presidential elections with hope and some  
> amazement.
> I participated when our President-elect asked Americans to choose the
> priorities for his administration by voting on the internet.
>
> I was still caught up with the wave of people’s empowerment when I  
> got this
> e-mail, and I was alarmed about the prospect of the Navy turning its  
> weapons
> of war on us, even indirectly. So I glanced at the summary of the  
> 1000-page
> EIS, commented via the Navy website, sent messages to my Senators and
> Congressman asking them to look into this, and forwarded the  
> original e-mail
> to my networks requesting their involvement in protecting the  
> western United
> States.
>
> Back through my network came news that Senator Conrad of North  
> Dakota had
> responded. His staff determined that, based on what they found in  
> the EIS,
> the area under discussion was much smaller than stated, but still  
> worth
> watching.
>
> Concerned that I might have responded to a false alarm, but also  
> recognizing
> that Senator Conrad’s staff might not have found the proverbial  
> needles in
> the 1000-page “haystack,” I wrote the author, Rosalind Peterson,  
> asking for
> citations to back up her assertions. She responded with a flurry of
> forwarded government reports and studies.
>
> What I discovered shocked me. From the mouth of Mrs. Sheila Murray,  
> Navy
> Region Northwest Environmental Public Affairs Officer, this EIS  
> addresses
> only a minor adjustment to an on-going weapons testing and chemical  
> weather
> control program not only on the West Coast, but also in Hawaii,  
> Alaska, and
> parts of the East Coast. Weather control?! Who does this serve and  
> what is
> the toxic cost? The actual operations areas may be mostly off-shore,  
> but it
> is *our* weather that is being experimented with for the purposes of  
> war. It
> is our survival that is being tinkered with through persistent toxic
> chemical releases.
>
> I personally live by the adage, “We get what we focus on.” So, I  
> focus on a
> humanity engaged in the wholeness of life. I see this situation as a  
> wake-up
> call for us to individually and collectively participate in decision- 
> making
> with a whole-systems, long-term perspective. This official request for
> comments on the Navy EIS is an opening for citizens to impact the  
> direction
> of the military that we pay for.
>
> The U.S. Navy Environmental Impact Statement is posted at
> http://www.nwtrangecomplexeis.com/. The original article that  
> brought my
> attention to this is posted at
> http://www.newswithviews.com/Peterson/rosalind114.htm.
>
> We can comment on-line until March 11th at
> http://www.nwtrangecomplexeis.com/NtrcCommentForm.aspx, as well as  
> contact
> our elected representatives.
>
>
>
> Guest columnist Carol Hiltner is cousin of *World *publisher Rufus  
> Woods,
> who once worked at the *World*. She is an author, artist, and  
> activist who
> works collaboratively to access peace through multi-cultural  
> awareness and
> friendship. She is currently focused on bringing forth the  
> perspectives of
> the ancient indigenous culture of peace found in the Altai Mountains  
> of
> Siberia. E-mail: carol.hiltner at gmail.com. Websites:
> www.AltaiMir.org<http://www.altaimir.org/>and
> www.Altaibooks.com <http://www.altaibooks.com/>.
>
> *
> *
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> -- 
> Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg
> Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
> ++49-30-772 8000
> mmpanne at boscop.org
> www.boscop.org
>
>
> Check out the Open Space World Map presently showing 457 resident  
> Open Space Workers in 73 countries working in a total of 139  
> countries worldwide
> Have a look:
> www.openspaceworldmap.org
>
> *
> *
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>
>
> -- 
> Best regards,
>
> Carol Hiltner
> Founder, Altai Mir University
> 206-525-2101 (US)
> 913-462-6912 (Novosibirsk)
> carol.hiltner at gmail.com
> www.AltaiMir.org
> www.AltaiBooks.com
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